DISCOMFORT AND JOY.
That Alexander Payne is a child of the 1970s is not something to be taken lightly. As The Holdovers begins, a film that takes place in December 1970, everything is true to the period. Even the studio logos in the beginning. These were not companies that existed in those days, so Payne had new logos crafted for Miramax and Focus Features that make the studios look like they’ve been around for the better part of a century. Is it necessary for the movie? Certainly not, just a little extra something for us to enjoy. It’s Payne’s way of setting the tone for a film that bowls us over with charm. This is his best work since Sideways (2004).
Not a well-liked man
Christmas is coming to Barton Academy, a New England boarding school, and classics teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is preparing a new test for his lazy, privileged students. He’s not a well-liked man, unpopular with the kids as well as fellow faculty. As punishment for not going easy on the no-good son of a prominent donor, Paul is ordered to spend Christmas at school, supervising ”holdovers”, students who have nowhere else to go for the holidays. Paul doesn’t really care, it’s not like he had plans for Christmas, but babysitting is not his idea of a good time either.
He ends up alone at Barton together with Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who’s in charge of the cafeteria and recently lost her son in Vietnam, and Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a student whose mother is going away for a trip with his stepfather.
Inspired by a French classic
As we follow these characters over Christmas, a family of sorts is created, complete with Danny (Naheem Garcia), the janitor. Far from a perfect one, there’s conflict and heartbreak for them to deal with, including grief, loneliness, the absence of good parents and the struggle to create a worthwhile existence for oneself. Payne was inspired to make the film after watching a French classic, Merlusse (1935), which had a similar concept. He started working with David Hemingson, a sitcom veteran who had come up with an idea for a pilot set in a boarding school. Together, they crafted this irresistible tale (bound to become a Christmas classic) about an unlikely group of people who draw strength from each other and their time together, even though they’re off to a rocky start.
Paul Giamatti’s perfect for the part, absolutely wonderful, as a sharp-tongued, curmudgeonly educator with a glass eye and odor problem.
Payne reunited with Giamatti, his star from Sideways, and I bet there was never a second choice. He’s perfect for the part, absolutely wonderful, as a sharp-tongued, curmudgeonly educator with a glass eye and odor problem, whose personality clashes with his bright student who’s trying to come up with ways to escape. The latter is nicely played by newcomer Sessa, who had actually attended one of the Massachusetts schools whose property served as location for the fictitious Barton Academy.
Randolph is also an excellent choice as Mary, a woman who has more in common with Paul than either one may realize; they both bring a great sense of humor to the film, and are key to its warmest, moving moments. Locations and Eigil Bryld’s cinematography bring absolute credibility to the period and setting.
Few critics have objected to the film, but those who dislike it go after the clichés. Sure, Payne and Hemingson work with a formula where it’s clear that the student will come to view the teacher as a stand-in for his father. Near the end of the film there’s Paul’s chance to be a real mensch and stand up for what’s right; there are echoes of Dead Poets Society (1989). But it’s all executed with such conviction and real feeling for these people that it’s hard to be a curmudgeonly critic. Watching this film with a big festival crowd also made it clear that this is a real audience-pleaser, earning its laughs and a few tears.
The Holdovers 2023-U.S. 133 min. Color. Directed by Alexander Payne. Screenplay: David Hemingson. Cinematography: Eigil Bryld. Cast: Paul Giamatti (Paul Hunham), Dominic Sessa (Angus Tully), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Mary Lamb), Carrie Preston, Gillian Vigman, Tate Donovan.
Oscar: Best Supporting Actress (Randolph). Golden Globes: Best Actor (Giamatti), Supporting Actress (Randolph). BAFTA: Best Supporting Actress (Randolph), Casting.
Quote: “Life is like a hen house ladder. Shitty and short.” (Giamatti)
Last word: “You want acting talent, acting skill and acting ability, but what you really want, particularly in film acting, is that you sense an interesting human being under there. Because [Sessa had] never auditioned for anything before, he had thought it should be a performance of some sort. So, finally, we had to kind of beat him up a little bit… and say, ‘don’t try anything, don’t force anything’… and once he learned that, which didn’t take very long, then this film actor emerged.” (Payne, GBH)
